Man of Iron, Woman of Steel
by OHBrie
Summary: Tony never came out that portal. Pepper Potts is left everything. Including most of the suits as Tony figured she would need protection from people who thought they could take it away from her. He didn't think they'll be the ones needing protection. Tony Stark is pretty sure he's dead. He may even be in Heaven... until he's pretty sure he's not, but he doubts this is Hell either.
1. Chapter 1: Pepper Potts

She did not want to see this. To see New York. To see Tony in danger. Yet again. The urgent report was playing though and she could not draw her eyes away from it.

"No." She mouthed seeing Tony with a fucking nuke. Of all the stupid things, she supposed to be proud of him being the hero... but she wasn't. Call her selfish but she would rather see Tony fly as fast as he could away from it all, see him safe. She valued Tony over New York and if that was not selfish then she did not know what was.

She only heard her phone when it was too late. Tony. By the time she picked it up he had gone through the hole and it had closed.

He did not come out. Nothing did. Not more aliens, nor any nuclear blast. Not Iron Man but most importantly not Tony Stark.

"No." He had tried to call her and she had missed it. She never got to hear the last words he meant for her.

"Tony..."

* * *

"Tony..."

An empty coffin was lowered into the ground. AC-DC blared out as that was the way Tony liked to make his entrances and so he would his last exit. Everyone wore sunglasses as she just felt that was a detail that Tony would appreciate, even if in part just to hide her tears. Tony had never coped well with crying especially not hers or his own.

"To Tony!" She declared raising a glass of whiskey, she did not like the stuff but Tony had. Everyone else rose a glass with her. She could have easily broken down there and then, but she didn't, she had help holding herself steady. A strong hand on each shoulder and one that trembled just as much as hers holding onto her like it was a life-line.

Captain America and Happy Hogan flanked each side whilst James Rhodes just gripped onto her hand as desperately as she gripped onto his. Tony had left a lot of people behind, more than he possibly even thought when he had to go and sacrifice himself. The words 'sacrifice' and 'hero' felt bitter on her tongue.

Even if Tony had made his suit fit for space even it could not withstand a nuclear blast, just in case though she had pleaded Thor to ask that all-seeing man he spoke for just to check for him. It was not logical and she did not dare allow herself to dream he would show up sunglasses and all and tell her that, yes, he loved her. To tell her what he wanted to say on that missed phone call as he flew up to his death. To say that the reports of his death was greatly exaggerated with a shit-eating grin on his face as if he hadn't decided to take a suicide mission.

Thor agreed solemnly to her request, his hands dwarfed hers as he clasped them telling her that he was sorry for the chaos that his brother had wrought. Said brother had a muzzle on and chains beside him. The muzzle was for Loki's own safety. The moment Bruce had seen that man's _smirk_ after what they and the world, _she,_ had lost he had practically Hulked out very willing to give the self-proclaimed 'God' some permanent damage. Heck, if she saw a smirk she was pretty sure she could have given the Hulk a run for his money on _destroying_ Loki.

Loki was not the only one she felt like destroying, Loki had not been the one to call on the Nuke after all. Stark Industries was not going to let SHIELD or their little council anywhere near any of their products, old or new. They had killed Tony just as much as Loki had a role in doing so, and they were going to suffer for it. They did not even have Phil to soften the blow as Loki had killed him too. Loki and SHIELD were both going to feel the wrath of one Virginia 'Pepper' Potts.

SHIELD hadn't sent a representative to the funeral; Natasha was there but not as representative. The whole Avengers team was there, including Thor who had returned briefly for it after securing Loki in a cell where he could not hurt anyone else. Or get hurt by the Avengers for taking one of their own. Pepper was grateful for them showing up.

"For Tony!" The Avengers' voices carried the furthest and she blinked back heavy tears and held back the sobs that threatened to wrack her body. She would cry later, but she had finally found him... the elusive Bruce Banner. Bruce was struggling but he still came and that meant a lot. He had braved his fear of turning big, green and ugly just to show his respects for Tony.

She had to be in business mode for this bit, Bruce Banner was a tricky little shit on keep pinned down but he had showed up here. This was her best chance to catch him, if she succumbed to her misery who knows when she would next see him.

"Dr. Banner." She greeted, his throat bobbed and he bent his head towards her in greeting not trusting himself to speak. His hands had a slight green tint to them; she cleared her throat lightly causing him to look up at her. She took those lightly green hands in her own without fear. Banner's breath caught and he tried to remove his hands from hers, she didn't let him and held firm.

"We have an opening for someone of your talents at Stark Industries." The man practically choked at her words.

"Is this really the time?" His green tinged eyes looked at her in concern, Pepper was not sure what his eye colour was supposed to be but she had a feeling that they shouldn't be that green. She had dealt with Tony hiding the fact he was dying, when he was in Afghanistan – Tony Stark even at his best made her heart clench in fear for him. She knew true fear; she did not feel it with this man and with Tony gone she would not have to feel it again. It hurt. She wouldn't let Bruce Banner cower her with his own fear.

"Tony would have liked me to tie up his loose ends. He would have wanted you taken care for and I promise him this that I will. He would have done this himself... if not for..." Banner's eyes were painfully dull now the green washed out of them, he looked so worn. Pepper realised that her business mask was cracking but she couldn't bring herself to care. She too was worn.

"Despite all claims he had no heart... which sadly I think he started to believe along the way, the truth was he loved too easily. He had met you for about ten minutes and decided to take you into his folds... that's the man he is... was. If he was willing to trust you then I'll offer the same hand. Come on Banner, if Tony Stark believed in you it's about time you take a chance and believe in yourself a little." Maybe her voice had hitched as small sobs broke their way through but at least she was getting to the man. She could have probably pulled her tried and tested steel woman act on him but she felt too shattered from Tony's death, it hurt to think about how he wouldn't be able to annoy her again, to pull herself together enough to use it.

"When's the interview?" Pepper gave a mix between a sob and a laugh.

"You better show for it Banner. He left me the suits and I'll hunt you down in one." She knew as she had seen him write his will, been the one to check it over as genius though the man was he did not have much of a business head on him. He had wrote one when he realised he was dying, but didn't tell her as he was a fool at the worst of times, he had updated it several times since then.

The amount of death threats and near deaths he had it would be unwise not to have a will, he had updated it after Agent Coulson had left as if he knew something like this would happen before getting down to research. He had joked that if he died that way he made sure she got eighty-eight percent of Stark Tower, when she asked why that number she already knew the answer. So he was the one who had twelve percent rather than her.

She had not seen the latest will fully so when who received what came up she may still be surprised. Tony had a bad habit of adding people to his will for the stupidest of things. If a valet did a nice job with one of his cars and opened the door for Pepper, then that valet probably ended up getting that car in Tony's will. Tony merely waved off Pepper's concerns before sending her a smile.

"You get what you give. I just happen to have a lot to give than they do so if they managed to leave an impression on me then they may as well get what they deserve."

* * *

There was a lot of confused people who did not know why they were there, why would they of all people be invited to Tony Stark's reading of the will. Tony Stark's left shoe were bound to cost more than they would ever earn. Pepper knew better however.

That woman there sitting nervously upon her hands looking out of place in her waitress uniform had gave Tony a smile when he was having a bad day. Something had set him off, Pepper had a feeling it was something about the lobster tank and having to stand above it to pick his Lobster. It reminded him too much of being dunked in Afghanistan. When his hands had trembled so hard that his glass had smashed on the floor, she had cleaned it up and calmed him down without causing a fuss or reporting the incident to the tabloids. For her simple kindness Tony had searched her up, seeing that she was saving up to buy her father's old bar. Naturally Tony had bought it and then brought it back to its old glory, that was what the woman was going to receive from Tony's will.

There was several incidents with people giving Tony Stark small kindnesses receiving ridiculous paybacks. Tony could have given it them when he was still... alive. He had always been a dramatic son of a bitch though and he did not believe in doing things half way, he would them his all or nothing until he could give them his all.

Captain America to his surprise had received something. As did Natasha Romanov, Bruce Banner and the Hulk. Banner had sheepishly arranged to accept it on the behalf of the Hulk. Pepper should have really been more surprised but Tony had known of all them before he had researched his to be teammates. The night he updated his will he had been researching them after all. She might have thought that he had updated it since then if it wasn't for the devastating sound of Phil Coulson being on his will. Tony wasn't the only man that was being buried that she had cared about. Phil Coulson or Agent if Tony was to be believed had become a friend.

He had left a video to go with his recent updates to the will. It was shown after everyone was taken care of and left considering how intimate it may be, out of respect it was shown when there wasn't about a hundred people there. Pepper smoothed down her skirt to calm herself down at the sight of Tony Stark grinning in the face of a camera being shown on a large screen. Had this really been barely a few weeks ago? Probably not even forty-eight hours before his... passing. He looked so full of life and excited as if he was speaking about his new car rather than what would happen to his stuff in the event of his death.

"To 'the Incredible Hulk' I leave a pair of stretchy pants that will prevent further indecent exposure charges. I know because I'm very good at research when Pepper promises me nice things." There was an eyebrow wiggle there. Banner gave a short laugh of disbelief and embarrassment, somewhere in his bundle of emotions there was also gratefulness. "To Dr. Bruce Banner, I leave the removal of one Thaddeus Ross from your life as you'd be surprised how quickly people lose their power when all their dirty deeds come to light. If anything I've done was less than legal well if you're hearing this I'm already dead so hey go ahead and lock me up. Your welcome." The video Tony held up his wrists with a grin and gave a small bow of his head as if accepting thanks and praise from Bruce.

Banner actually choked up at that bit and clenched at his trousers trying to not to break in front of everyone. He excused himself but no one could possibly think any less of him, Pepper did not. She felt rather too emotional at the sight of Tony being so... Tony.

"To Natasha, Natalie or Nicole. Who knows what other name you're using, you should really start using different initials though. You were a nice PA – not Pepper level but hey who could compete with. For stabbing me in the neck I offer you a chance to go clean, I doubt you would take it though but the offer stands and I know I'm not in the weapon business anymore but considering how much you enjoy stabbing things I decided to make an exception for you. They can glow, they slice, they dice any number of crap. You're welcome."

"To the overly emotional Captain America," The video Tony was bursting with hardly concealed amusement.

"Oh crap." Pepper murmured, Steve Rogers may have looked confused but Pepper knew exactly where this was going. Looking at Rhodey he knew exactly where this was going as well.

"Who grubbed with his husband Hank." Poor Steve Rogers looked startled and all sadness he may have felt was currently being overpowered by utter confusion and a need to point out that he had never once had a husband let alone one named Hank. "Grubbed for everything they could get from me and then shed crocodile tears when I needed sympathy."

Pepper cringed, of course Tony would do this to the Captain America he had grown up to hate before he got to know the man a little more and eventually begrudgingly respecting the other. Not realising how much the other would actually grieve one of the last connections to his past, the son to one of his greatest friends, the man he fought beside. She tried signalling to turn it off but the person in charge of the screen was too enraptured themselves to heed her.

"To Captain America I leave... a boot to the head." Pepper sighed resting her head in her hands. Goddamn it Tony, he aimed to give her headaches from beyond the grave.

Thankfully being super human and all the rather alarmed and slightly hurt Captain America managed to catch the boot that some idiot decided to actually throw before it hit him in the head.

"He fucking did." Rhodes muttered to himself trying to convey his apologies to the blond. Even when Tony was dead (dead was such a harsh word) he still had to cause issues where they need to apologise for his erratic and extravagant behaviour. Steve was otherwise preoccupied by a piece of paper in the boot. Because it wouldn't be Tony if he didn't go full out.

Pepper was on her feet quite willing to try and apologise to the man who had been nothing but supportive for whatever offensive message Tony probably put there.

Steve Rogers clasped at his mouth when opened the sealed, unopened package. Well that hurt more than the boot would ever do. It was a note and child's drawing attached to a worn and faded Captain America poster. The child's drawing had a figure that was obviously him next to a boy holding his shield aloft. The names 'Captain America' and 'Tony (me)' sprawled across them.

 _'I'm not sure if I ever got to meet you, this is in case I did and no doubt was an ass. Hey, that's me. You're probably as perfect as dad made you out to be, America's golden boy. I don't cope well with perfect, just ask Pepper, the amount of times we drove each other up the walls. I don't deserve perfect heck knows why she doesn't call for a restraining order._

 _'The boot to the head, probably not funny – if I wasn't dead Pepper would kill me for it. I just wanted you to know... shit. Well this is so fucking sappy but you were my childhood hero and I guess I don't want Captain Fucking America to think of Anthony Edward Stark as nothing but a small selfish man who thinks he's a big man when he's in a tin can._

 _'I guess some stupid part of me wanted one of my childhood heroes to think that maybe Tony Stark wasn't such as waste of space... I was too late with dad. That was where I spilt water, it was definitely not a tear, Stark Men DON'T cry. Well here's a stupid drawing I did when I was like four and my old poster, I should have thrown them away. I throw a lot of things away but guess Tony Stark does have a heart after all._

 _'This is our little secret solider, no one must know of this mush contained in this letter otherwise I will HAUNT you so damn hard._

 _'Tony._

 _'(P.S. Coulson probably got his cards signed, it's stupid because I'm dead but hey sign my poster for me?)'_

"I didn't think you were a waste of space Tony." Steve murmured softly, he might have been appalled by some of the crass language used in the letter if the rest of the contents did not hurt so damn much. He realised with a choked laugh that he was going to sign that damned poster and probably Coulson's cards too even if it was too late.

He had been upset by whatever the boot was supposed to mean but that was nothing compared to what that stupidly honest letter had dragged out of probably both the reader and the writer. He had a piece of Tony in his hand and that was more than most people have ever gotten. He had to wonder if they would have grown closer if Tony had lived or if it remained that the closest Tony would have ever gotten to being truly honest with him was when the Stark felt safely dead.

"Captain Rogers? I'm sorry for this. It's just... was just his twisted sense of humour." That wasn't the first time Pepper had caught herself still talking about him in present tense as if he was still around rather than long gone.

"It's fine, ma'am. I got his apology right here... he thought you were perfect. Did you know that?"

"No. I didn't know that."

"Well... he did."


	2. Chapter 2: Tony Stark

Tony opened his eyes and it was wrong. He shouldn't be opening his eyes, he wasn't even sure he should still have eyes after being in the range of a nuke. He was just one lucky son of a bitch wasn't he? What time had he avoided sure death now? He should have died... so many good people had died in his place and yet here he was refusing to stay dead yet again, in the face of space and a nuke.

Unless. Perhaps he was really dead this time, he was lying on grass and the sun was shining. Was this Heaven or perhaps the place in-between before they figured out that the Merchant of Death really belonged down below?

He should have really asked Thor more about what happened after death, surely the Asgardians knew more about it with them supposedly being gods after all. There was a god for death, right? He knew there was gods of the underworld in Greek and Roman, Hades and Pluto. He should have read up more on Norse mythology when meeting Thor, he just preferred solid fact compared to fairytales.

If this was what death was like he did not have it bad, the air was cleaner than he ever breathed before and he still had his suit. Perhaps the Egyptians had a point burying all their stuff with them seeing as his suit had came with him into death.

"JARVIS?" He murmured not really expecting an answer, there wasn't but his suit was dead (ha, like he was) so it could easily be because of that. He would have preferred if JARVIS had stayed with Pepper rather than following him into death anyway. Pepper.

He had left Pepper. She was so going to kill him for getting himself die. Perhaps if he could get the suit charged somehow... if he still had a connection to JARVIS despite being dead he could tell her that he was sorry.

Sorry because she was right, she always was. She was perfect and did not deserve such a hopeless, broken person such as him to cling onto her but she put up with him and he loved her all the more for it. Of all the people he could trust he could count them on one hand and even then half of them were AIs he made himself. There was Pepper right at the top. Despite all the shit, she put his heart into him for Christ's sake. She stuck by him and he loved her. Loved her as much as someone as fucked up as he was could possibly love anyone.

She did not know this though. But she should. She should know that he wanted her to take his company to the limits that she could rename it Potts Industries if she wanted, that she could do a better job with it than he ever could. It was hers, always meant to be hers and she would fix it to be the good company it could have always been.

He was crying, tears just streaming down his face freely, Stark men did not cry. They were made of Iron. For Pepper though he was willing to burn his name in flames and cry despite the shitty legacy of not crying.

He hoped she found love in someone who could devote themselves fully into loving her rather than struggling with alcohol, insomnia and an obsession over the Iron Man suit. She would probably be happy with Happy Hogan; he was a good guy and would love her. Heck he would even let Captain fucking America be with her if it made her happy, if he loved her with all his serum pumped heart.

Maybe she and Rhodey would find comfort in each other.

"Pepper. Rhodey." He gasped out before clutching at his chest. It hurt, phantom pains born from grief, you couldn't die twice. Rhodey. He hadn't even given Rhodey a goodbye message; he left Pepper to tell him the news that is if Rhodey hadn't already seen him on the news. At least he had a will... Rhodes got a couple of the suits aside from the ones for Pepper. She needed to be protected even if she did not really like the suits and if he had made one that was her size and had all the gadgets she may appreciate then it wasn't anything about it. He was glad he had sorted out his will; he had always thought he would die young... at least all his important people would be sorted out.

Except Bruce Banner. He was a new addition to his list of important people; he wanted the man safe from Ross. He knew all about Dr Banner long before he met him, SHIELD had called in a favour for him to approach Ross after all. He had hoped to become science buddies with Bruce in the future... he hadn't sorted out the man in his will as much as he would have liked to though. He could get rid of Ross, fuck Ross. He was always an asshole but the rest of the things he wanted to give the man. Well he was a little bit too dead to do so.

He missed out quite a few people from his new team that he begrudgingly began to like. He didn't get anything for Thor. The thing was that although he researched the guy he had not really expected for him to show up. Clint was another guy he missed out but he had been compromised at the time of his research, but he had seemed cool enough when not brain-washed and he could have given him some sweet arrows and a sexy-ass bow.

Oh fuck, Steve... he had it so he had a boot thrown at his head. He wasn't sure whether because he had grown to begrudgingly respect the stupid perfect man, who was like one of those Greek statues of the Gods come to life, so he regretted his decision or the fact that it sucked as he wouldn't be there to see a boot thrown at the man's head.

He also felt stupid over his little note and just mortified at the fact that the man was probably reading it. He should have just gotten the man a little sword to go with his shield rather than a boot (although it was hilarious thinking about it) and that sappy heartfelt crap which was in the boot. Hopefully the man wouldn't feel so putout about the boot that he'll show the world the letter. Then again the Steve Rogers that he met... he was a good man. Not always right, stubborn and opinionated but at heart he was a good man. He was just glad he was dead so he didn't have to be the one to apologise for a joke the other wouldn't even get.

He just hoped Pepper could handle all of the people he missed out for him, she had always been better than Tony at handling things. He hated leaving things piled on her... he was too dead to do anything though. Fuck. He wasn't even mostly dead, he was fairly sure a nuke would leave anything all dead, aside from cockroaches. Although he had been called such many a time by various different sources, he was in fact not a cockroach.

Being dead was seriously sucking especially coupled with the pangs coming from his chest. Being dead shouldn't hurt so much. Unless he wasn't dead but how could he be anything but dead? He wasn't that lucky. He wasn't a cockroach. That grass hadn't been spinning a moment ago though, in the fact the whole world was, his mind prompted that it wasn't the world that was spinning. His vision was going blurry as a blond man approached him. He had to wonder if this was his punishment for being such a shitty person. A taste of what he could have had granted by his sacrifice and then receiving punishment for all of his terrible actions.

Was the man an angel about to tell him that 'oh sorry, Heaven just made a mistake, let us boot you back down to Hell. Say hi to Stane and your father they had just _longed_ to see you again.'

Served him right.

"S-Steve?" The blond was closer now, the blue eyes familiar though the form was somewhat off. Darkness overtook him before he could tell. Hope before falling, that was a good punishment he mused as he faded.

* * *

He opened his eyes again and immediately wished he hadn't awoken. His hair was slick and stuck to his forehead from sweat and his chest was on fire, perhaps not literally but it certainly felt like it was a burning fucking inferno. The feeling spawned images of Obie, the traitorous bastard, leaving him for dead after literally wrenching his heart out of his chest. His mind helpfully noted in a calm tone that reminded him suspiciously of JARVIS' that panicking wasn't really helping the pain in his chest.

As much as he would like to listen to his mind it was pretty darn hard to do so when he recalled scenes like that one alongside his heart deciding that it would be fun to do whatever it was doing. Then he heard him.

"Take deep breaths with me. You need to calm down." Steve. That was Steve's voice. That was Steve's face looking down with concern at him. Steve was different, smaller but still Steve. Oh God, Steve. His voice was raspy, weak and it didn't sound like his own. Why was it so hard to talk, he was normally far too good at talking.

"Steve." He gasped out, the man's brows furrowed slightly and he leaned forward. Tony was afraid for a second that the other was going to kiss him and he felt too weak to stop him, his arms felt like lead, he scrunched his eyes shut but all Steve did was check the wet flannel that was on his head.

"You have a high fever." Steve informed him in a matter of fact manner, at last Tony managed to muster some control over his stubborn arms, and he managed to lightly grasp at Steve's hand to make sure he was real. Loki's illusions always disappeared when touched... he groaned in frustration as his hands did not quite obey the orders his head gave them. Steve took the initiative though and took his hands in his own strong one.

"Steve." He practically chanted the other's name as a prayer in the relief, it was Steve. He had never been so glad to see the man before. He could find Pepper and apologise, grovel and beg at her feet for being stupid enough to think he was dead and give up rather than searching for any way to get back to her. But first he'll drag up enough dignity to apologise to this man, he found him he was a step closer back to Pepper he could manage just that. "I'm sorry, for the boot, for being an ass. I'm so... Steve." He murmured almost desperately at the end.

"Don't waste your energy on speaking." Steve murmured looking awkward.

He drifted off again then; it was a bit more peaceful than the last time. After all Captain America was there to keep him safe.

* * *

The next time he opened his eyes he noticed more of his surroundings. He was in a shack. Well that was probably rude of him to call it a shack but it was compared to what he lived in; he was pretty sure this was a straw bed though. He'll call it a quaint cottage as he could be polite. He had no idea people still lived in such a place but hey if this was Steve Roger's place he could be nice about it and discreetly offer him a place in the tower to get him out of here.

He stood up and almost fell down again, he gave a groan and caught himself on a chair he was fairly sure was whittled by an amateur. Steve probably made it himself so he'll be kind and say what a lovely piece of craftsmanship before telling Bruce how shit it was. Bruce was a good bro, he'll know.

He wanted to see to Bruce... why the hell he was in a shitty little shack, he meant quaint little cottage, rather than in a hospital or somewhere modern at least rather from like a few centuries ago. Where was everyone else.

"You're not dead." Steve muttered in surprise as he entered the room, Tony gave a small snort at that, the blondie could have at least sounded more grateful over the fact he wasn't dead.

"Well thanks." He muttered sending the other a look composed of raised eyebrows and pursing his lips. To his surprise this Steve quirked his lips up in amusement. That's when he noticed something seriously wrong... he had never once been eye-level with the man, not truly even when helped out by the suit but here Steve was in fact shorter than him and skinny too.

"Steve... you shrunk."

"Oh. I thought it was the fever..." The small-Steve murmured to himself before coughing awkwardly. "I'm not Steve and I've never heard of anyone called Steve. My name is Arthur Pendragon."

"As in King Arthur? The one who pulls the sword out of the stone and is crowned king of England and brings forth the end of the Dark Ages? That Arthur Pendragon?" He was dreaming he just had to be. Though it would be bloody typical, the golden boy to be the reincarnation of one of the first golden boys. What was the thing? King Arthur will rise again to bring the end of the next Dark Age. Steve seemed pretty good at that thing. Crap, his mental breakdown (or whatever this was) was making him rationalise the man in front of him being King Arthur and Steve. There had been no evidence of King Arthur ever being a real person... but that had been the same with Thor and Loki.

"I'm the one to pull the sword out? Are you a wizard, how would you know the future of the sword? Your magic explains the suit of armour you had upon you! It was crafted by dwarfs (Tony winced at this bit a little, he didn't like height gabs) or came from the heavens (Tony much preferred this option), never have I seen such a beautiful and sleek set of armour." Well if he was crazy or dreaming may as well go along with it. Surely Steve wasn't that good of an actor, he had never once appreciated his armour and he wouldn't start now, and if he was just being pranked well then it was still better than being dead. He didn't think he was dead anymore, if he was this was the strangest idea of afterlife.

"Aye, I am the great and powerful Merlin, I have tested you. Although you have always been the rightful king, one wishes for a wise and kind ruler. For tending to me you have proven yourself as not only the rightful king but a good one." Tony declared, if there was anything he was good at it was being a drama queen so he was fairly sure he could pull this off. Whatever this was. He threw whatever was covering his chest to reveal his arc reactor that had thankfully being so painful, it was merely small twinges rather than burning agony. He could handle that.

"Wizard Merlin." Not-Steve-Possible-Arthur breathed out in awe.

"That is indeed I. I am at your service, my liege." His logic was that if he went along with this then when he reached the end of the story he would either awake, Steve would slip up (he figured it would be an elaborate revenge prank for dying on Pepper) or something would make sense. If he played it right then he was also less likely to be bothered and he'll get his suit back, figure out how to charge it – see if JARVIS was still there. JARVIS would help him figure out what the heck was going on, until then may as well work with what he got. If he could make an arc reactor and an Iron Man suit in a cave with scrap he could handle this.

He hoped.


	3. Chapter 3: Pepper Potts

JARVIS was a lifesaver at the moment, he was not Tony... but he had everything. All the projects Tony had been working on ( a dozen at a time), the answers to what to do next. Tony had, of course, left a contingency plan in case of his death which eased the load in terms of R&D.

When she had first returned to the tower she honestly had not been expecting to hear JARVIS' voice. She expected for the portal to have swallowed him as well. If she had known he was still there rattling around in the emptiness she would have gone back sooner. He did not sound the same although he had greeted her with the same age-old 'Welcome home, Ma'am.'  
She had not honestly expected to hear him. She expected him to have been lost, sucked into that god-forsaken hole in the sky. Why didn't Tony just let go, why did he have to follow the damn nuke into the portal? Damn him.

There was something terribly wrong with JARVIS but it was not easily placeable but everything that he did was just slightly off. It took her far too long to realise that it was grief, not a malfunction due to part of him going through that portal.

It had taken her asking him if he was okay for her to recognise the guilt. She had not realised just how sentient JARVIS was.

"I'm sorry. I should have tried harder to bring him home." She forgot in her own grief that JARVIS had been with him.

If she admitted it to herself, she was involving JARVIS as heavily as was now, because she was worried about him. He no longer had his main objective (keeping Tony Stark safe) to keep him going. So she gave him things to do in the hopes he would not begin to disintegrate without Tony. She did not want to lose JARVIS too. She felt guilty for leaving JARVIS alone and not recognising his sentience.

She knew she would probably have to tell the bots.

* * *

The first few months without Tony did not feel real. Or rather she did not feel real. As if she was caught in a nightmare and would wake up any moment with Tony still here. Her actions did not feel her own, but rather they felt robotic.

The rest of the world moved on and she both kept up but felt unattached and left behind.

Stocks rose as a symbol of gratitude to Stark's memory, but then soon fell again as most companies could last without their heads. But Tony Stark was Stark Industries, their main driving force, the guy with the ideas and the brains to follow through. The master of the disciplines they dealt in. It was like SEGA without Sonic, Nintendo without Mario. Unrecognisable. She was going to ignore that SEGA was all but dead. They would manage though, they had to. She could not just step back and grieve when she had sharks snapping at her heels and millions of employees to look after. Not to mention a New York to clean up.

Virginia Potts smiled out at the crowd as she announced Stark Industries' latest steps in terms of renewable energy to the press. With Tony gone they did not quite have as many shoes in as many industries or quite so many innovative inventions that paved the way for decades to come. But Tony had left a legacy and a very promising R&D department who had served under him. He may have been the brightest but he was not the only star.

It was strange being solely referred to as Virginia again rather than Pepper, well with the exception of Happy and Jim. Jim had admitted the same discomfort as if he had lost part of his identity now everyone listened to his preferred name rather than ignoring him and calling him Rhodey. It was subtle reminders that hurt the most as they hit the most unexpectedly.

Rest the 'Avengers' told her. Take time to mourn. It was easy for them to say, they had no responsibilities like she had. All they had to worry about was numero uno and immediate family and friends (as far as she was concerned most of them had no one), they didn't have over a million employees who relied on her, not to mention the relief fund.  
For them, the Battle of New York was over so they stepped back wiped their hands of it and congratulated each other on a job well done (when it was Tony who had found Loki and thus the portal, who had saved the Helicarrier, who had stopped the nuke). She hadn't the luxury of thinking it was over when she had to help clean up, help employees caught in the mess or their families.

She was not out on the streets like others were literally cleaning up, but she was the one behind the scenes, diverting the funds and making the arrangements.  
It did not all fall upon her; she did not even have to personally stick her head in. She could have just left it to others, but she had a responsibility to her employees the people who relied upon her.

This was not how Tony would have liked it, more importantly; it was not how her conscience would allow her to operate. It had taken some coaxing but she believed in Tony's vision and taken it on as her own belief.

She felt guilty about the way she had first dismissed Tony's desire to change Stark Industries for the better. SI may as well been Stark Weapons back then, Tony just did not know what he was asking.

Everyone, everyone who worked and relied on the company was going to be jobless, how many people was he willing to sacrifice their livelihoods for them just so he could ease his conscience.

It sounds cruel now, it sounded cruel then. However it was the bitter truth, but he had made it work. Switched focuses, actually made it better than before. Stark Industries without a Stark may sound impossible, but she had helped build Stark Industries without weapons which had been supposedly impossible with Tony. Impossible was just her new reality.

"JARVIS, Stark Industries: Impossible our new reality. How does it sound?"

"Amazing, ma'am."

It was scary in a way, the fact those who had no responsibilities suddenly got given responsibility for people's lives, hundreds of people's lives, each time they go out on a mission to save the world. They did not realise the depth of it all. It was not a clock-in-clock-out deal. Things did not magically fix themselves after the bad guys were defeated. They were also now in the spotlight which meant their actions could influence others, children could emulate their actions and beliefs.

She was not sure how to change it, but she would try if she could. Also, the 'Avengers' was a terrible name and pointed out that their focus was not on preventing disasters or protecting people. No, if they were 'avenging' then that meant they were already too late and fixated on 'an eye for an eye' instead of saving.

The issue lay within the fact they did not have to listen to her; they could scurry back to SHIELD. She had caught two 'Avengers' however in Bruce Banner and Steven Rogers. Neither had places to return to and both seemed to think they owed Tony Stark.

She could also work with the fact that they both seemed to wish for normalcy, she gave them both jobs and accommodation that they could rent in the tower. Steady income and work was a good step to a fairly normal life. She had doubts that Rogers truly wanted a normal life despite what he told himself, he seemed more of the type that wanted to be a hero or be seen as useful.

Bruce was an asset to Stark Industries. Steve not so much. She did not really want to call him useless but he had little to no skills that would benefit the company. She put him in Security, mostly as he could not do much else. In Security he may feel useful, she gave Happy instructions to watch him.

* * *

Natasha, or rather Natavia Roach had applied to be her personal assistant. It seemed Tony had been right about her liking to use her same initials, a lack of imagination he had claimed. Surely it would be more effective to use a name without Nat in it. She felt a little disappointed in Natasha over such an unimaginative name, as well as the fact she could have just used her real name or her first alias, as of course, Pepper knew who she was.

Then again Natalie Rushman had been blacklisted after she had lied about her identity and proceeded to literally stab Tony in the neck. Pepper felt a little glee over the blacklisting. It was a small relief to actually feel glee again that she was lenient that she actually allowed Natasha to see her.

"Pepper." The name hit her like Thor's hammer to the face. She physically recoiled at the unexpectedness of the sheer hurt that arose. Over a name.

"Ms Potts if you please." She thought she covered it well.

"I thought we were above such formalities." A light, joking tone.

"I thought we were above using aliases, Natalia Romanoff." Pepper answered coolly, it was Natasha's turn to flinch, a minuscule thing. It was sad to think she wasn't sure if it was real or just a show. She would have liked to think that it was Natasha allowing her to see a little of what was under her mask. She wouldn't know though, Natasha's masks probably had masks.

One of Tony's ramblings in the dead of night when he thought she was no longer listening or had long fallen asleep, he would hold her tracing numbers, graphs and equations into her upper arm and lower back. He liked to just talk to her until his brain whirled down. One of these ramblings were about Natasha. How if you peeled all her masks away all there would be was an empty mask, something Natasha would not even know.

The past. But the past influences the future and present, and she found herself judging Natasha by the words he had said.

Unbidden his words returned to her. "I just want to give her a home, but that would mean giving her you, I don't know if I'm selfless enough to do that. I'm a very selfish person. Also Rhodey, she's not allowed him either, he's mine too. Both of you, mine. I should get you both matching tattoos, no. A bit too much like branding cattle."

Back to Natasha who was analysing her. Pepper smiled.

"When can you start?"

Natasha obviously did not expect that. Even her underlying masks couldn't quite hide her shock although she managed quite well.

" _Stark Industries_ only, not Iron Man, do I make myself clear."

"I am not here under SHIE..."

"Do I make myself clear?" Pepper repeated.

"Understood Ms Potts."

"Thank you. Can you start immediately?" Natasha nodded briskly.

"Good, I need you to look over these."

* * *

She could not remember how long she had spent in black; it was easy when your wardrobe consisted mainly of business suits and pencil skirts. The black was not comforting; it left her feeling washed out as if Tony's death had simply taken away all her colour.

And it was not fair. She had a life outside of Tony and could live perfectly well without him. The problem was, a problem she had faced when she had considered walking away so many times before (for the sake of her mental health and blood pressure), was the fact she did not want to

She did not want to carry on without him by her side. They were a team, even if Tony still liked to claim he flew solo. Had claimed he flew solo. Had been a team. She hated the past tense, sometimes she even hated Tony for leaving her, for leaving Jim.

There had been a few times that they had found each other just wearing Tony's shirts as a reminder of him before they just sat together and let it all out. It had hurt like ripping out a part of herself but she felt better. She did not feel alone.

Most of the time she missed him with a dull ache or a pang of grief that gripped her suddenly when she was struck with reminders or him. She was coping, she just wished she did not have to.

People, and by people she meant the military and S.H.I.E.L.D, were still after the Iron Man suits. When she first wore an Iron Man gauntlet to a press release to politely decline all requests for a suit. She felt a little less washed out and a little more in colour.

She had lost Tony but she had gained four children in JARVIS, DUM-E, U and Butterfingers. She had also gained Iron Man.

* * *

She had crashed again into the ceiling and walls. Jim was trying to be helpful but he was mostly there to laugh at her, JARVIS was walking her through and helpfully remarking that practice made perfect. She wanted to send a stiletto to each of their faces. Now if only JARVIS had a face.


End file.
